


Lights out

by boleyn13



Series: Let's be lonely together [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Break Up, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 19:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10623675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boleyn13/pseuds/boleyn13
Summary: “This is my tower. I have the right to ask some questions. What are you doing here?”“Looking at the stars.”“Waiting for a spaceship to pick you up and take you to your home planet?”“Don’t be silly.”Loki made all the lights in New York City go out and now made himself comfortable on the roof of the Stark Tower to look at the stars. Looking kind of sad. Tony should know better than to ask.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone,
> 
> This one is simple, Tony and Loki have a talk and realise that they might have something in common.
> 
> Have fun :)

As Tony took in the view from the 93rd floor, the lights went out all over the city. One second later Tony was surrounded by complete darkness. Oh no.

“Friday?”

No response. Too soon to have a panic attack? Probably but Tony thought he was allowed to be a little bit nervous. A major blackout? Possible… A black-out that was able to also take out Tony’s incredible reliable back-up system? Highly improbable.

At least 10 suits should still have enough to juice to be ready to go any time. A reassuring thought. Pulling out his phone Tony checked the display. 45% left. Could be worse.

Okay, best case scenario – a short circuit that resulted in a night without television. Tony had a slight feeling that the birth rate would go up extensively in nine months from now.

Worst case scenario – a terrorist attack or the villain of the week was getting up to something.

Tony should get into his suit, just to be sure. Damn, he had been looking forward to a Disney movie marathon. These were the advantages of living alone, nobody was going to look at you weird when you were crying at the boat scene in ‘Tangled’. That movie was so much better than ‘Frozen’.

There was no way Tony was going to watch the movie on his laptop, so time to find the reason for the blackout. Since the Chitauri incident Tony always had a suit ready in his living room.

The second Tony activated it soft lights were illuminating the room. Ha, Tony Stark was back in business. Or Iron Man…

“Hey Friday, did you walk out on me?”

“I am sorry, Boss. The blackout cut me off the tower’s entire system. I fear I can’t even open a single door.”

Oh shit, Tony hadn’t even considered that yet. Which idiot had insisted on making everything in this tower completely automatic? Right, that had been Tony…

“Were you able to detect a reason for the blackout? Before the power went out?”

“No, but I was about to warn you about an unauthorized presence on the rooftop right before the power outage.”

So probably no terrorists…

For a short moment, a fleeting second the thought crossed Tony’s mind that it could be them. No, that was stupid. Not a single one of them had the know-how to do that. Tony was capable of taking out an entire city, Steve had been out of his depth when you asked him to cut a wire.

Whoever was up on his roof was probably better company and easier to take care of.

“You’re able to identify the energy signature?”

“Sorry, boss. Not without the sensors.”

Tony was so lost without his greatest love - electricity. “Fine, then let’s check it out.”

First Tony had to get out of his penthouse though. The doors wouldn’t open, the elevator didn’t work which left him with only two options. Break a window or blow a hole through the ceiling.

Definitely the window, Tony had enough of the constant repair work done to his floor. Tony had to save on energy, so instead of releasing an energy beam, he broke the window with his elbow. After flying through it Tony stopped for a second to take another look at New York in complete darkness.

How many times could a person see something like this in a life time? Suddenly New York City did indeed look like it was sleeping. A little bit unsettling and yet strangely beautiful…

… and dangerous. There might be affected hospitals. Tony needed to get the power back on. Flying up to the rooftop Tony was ready to immediately engage in a fight or to find some evil minions who were trying to open a portal in the sky by sucking all the electricity out of the town…

That wasn’t what Tony found. At first glance there seemed to be nothing at all until Tony let his searchlight travel across the roof.

“You gotta be kidding me!”

“Be quiet, Stark. I’m enjoying the silence.”

Really? Couldn’t Tony catch a break for a single moment? Stane, Vanko, Loki, Killian, Hydra, Ultron, Steve and now Loki again?

That was it. Tony was out. Enough of that bullshit for him. Should somebody else deal with that. How about that weird guy in Hell’s Kitchen? Tony just wanted to lie down and watch ‘Tangled’.

“Turn the power back on and enjoy the silence someplace else!”

Wasn’t Loki known for his hot temper? He didn’t seem bothered at all. Completely relaxed he was lying on the ground, his arms crossed behind his head. Not moving a muscle.

“Loki, get lost!”

“Shh…” Like the patronising asshole that he was Loki put a finger on his lips, indicating Tony to shut up.

That was it. “Fine, you asked for it.”

Tony raised his arm to fire, but before he could actually do it he had to go through a very unpleasant déjà-vu. The last remaining lights went off and suddenly Tony was trapped in a tight and heavy metallic shell. Shit…

Gravity instantly caught up with him and Tony had to thank his lucky star that he had only been hoovering a few metres about the roof. The impact on the hard ground hurt like a bitch nonetheless and now was indeed the time to panic.

Tony couldn’t move. The armour was weighing him down. Without the power it was cold against his skin like…

His heartrate was speeding up and he didn’t need Friday to tell him that. Breathe, slowly…

Once again the suit developed a life on its own, opening up and Tony sucked in a deep breath. As fast as he could Tony got up, not caring that he was more or less completely helpless while a crazy murderer was only a few feet away.

Nothing new, right? It seemed that people were getting a hang of beating the crap out of Tony. Even his friends had enjoyed doing that.

So why was Loki still lying there, staring up into the sky?

“You disarmed me, Reindeer Games. What now?”

“Will you please be quiet? I’m trying to look at the stars.”

Sure, as you do… What the hell? Tony gaped at Loki who was indeed… looking at the stars. Was this for real? Loki hanging out on top of his tower, switching off the city’s entire power to… look at the stars?

Tony did another look around to make sure that nobody else was here. He was going to shoot himself if supervillains were now using his tower for date night.

“This is my tower. I have the right to ask some questions. What are you doing here?”

“Looking at the stars.”

“Waiting for a spaceship to pick you up and take you to your home planet?”

“Don’t be silly.”

Okay, Tony was still going to check if there was a spaceship. You never knew with…

Oh…

Suddenly the idea of lying down and staring at the sky didn’t seem so crazy anymore. This was New York, normally the sky was pitch black, a dark hole. Now it was sprinkled with hundreds of bright stars and Tony swore that they were sparkling. It was so breathtakingly beautiful, it almost didn’t seem real. This was the kind of starry sky that painters liked to use in their artwork or that sappy romance novels talked about.

Nothing that existed in real life… until you saw it.

“Wow… okay… I gotta admit… that is kind of amazing.”

Loki hummed in approval and Tony pondered about the absurdity of this situation. He had never seen Loki in a state that wasn’t complete madness. Right now he seemed calm. Content? He was most definitely the reason for the power outage, so Tony would have to deal with him.

“Any chance that you switched off the light to marvel at the stars?”

“This tedious city is way too bright. I couldn’t see anything.”

“Huh… figures…” Tony shrugged and looked around awkwardly. Loki showed no intentions to move and since Tony was stuck there was no reason why he couldn’t sit down.

“Listen… as much as I support your new hobby that doesn’t involve… murder or blowing shit up… you gotta bring the electricity back. Hospitals kind of need it…”

“I’m perfectly aware of the existence of standby generators. No reason to rush…”

Great… so what was Tony supposed to do? Twiddle his thumbs until Loki had enough of talking to the moon? “So… was nothing good on TV tonight? Or why are you doing this? Checking out places for a date? Sorry, but my tower is private property. You’ll have to settle for a walk in the park.”

Tony thought he could hear a grunt, but Loki didn’t answer. Interesting…

“How about a deal? You can leave the rest of the city in darkness, I just want power for my living room. It’s movie night.” It had been movie night and Tony wasn’t going to let a tradition die… It was way more fun alone anyway. “Sitting alone in the dark is just depressing.”

“That’s tonight’s theme.”

“What?”

“Sitting alone in the dark. Being depressed.”

Wait a minute… Perhaps Loki hadn’t just messed with the power but also with his sense of hearing. There was no way in hell Loki was talking about his feelings. Okay, scratch that. Loki was talking about his feelings all the time, but those were usually angry feelings. Lots of screaming and yelling, usually directed at Thor.

Depressed… Yes, something new. At least concerning Loki.

“Uhm… don’t throw a fire ball at me or push me off the roof… but are you… sad?”

Loki might be sad, but Tony was definitely suicidal.

“Do I look especially happy to you?”

“Well, no, but you never do that…”

A soft chuckle was Loki’s response. “Look who’s talking.”

Touché… mean but true. “We’re not talking about me. I’m not letting New York City sit in the dark, because I want to intensely stare at the stars like a lost puppy. Did your villain friends throw you out of their book club? Did you break your horns? Somebody mocked you because of your shiny, red nose? Or did your performance issues come up again?”

“When I listen to you it’s so easy to understand why your friends turned against you and abandoned you in cave surrounded by ice.”

It shouldn’t hurt. Nothing that Loki said should matter. He was made of spite and insanity, savouring the pain he caused. Beneath the armour Loki was nothing but a spoiled, angry, violent child.

So why was that single phrase enough to tear a hole into Tony’s chest? Re-opening a wound which had never really healed in the first place. Did everybody know about what happened? Was Loki only here to revel in Tony’s misery and loneliness? It seemed like he wanted a part of him too since there was not much left anyway.

As the feeling of helplessness threatened to overwhelm Tony he fought it with all the anger he had still left. He couldn’t put it where it belonged so Loki had to do.

“Leave! Fuck off!” His voice was trembling, Tony sounded pathetic and Loki didn’t move.

“I told you to leave! This is my tower! Fuck off!”

“Stark…”

Loki was sitting up, but clearly not intending to leave. It would probably end up in killing him, but Tony couldn’t stand still for a second longer. He had to at least make an attempt to get rid of him. Stalking over to Loki Tony grabbed his arm and tried to drag him to his feet. “Get lost!”

A loud hiss passed Loki’s lips and he yanked his arm out of Tony’s grip. The rage which had possessed him just a moment ago had to take a backseat when Tony realised that his hands were wet. It was too dark to make out the colour of the liquid, but judging by Loki’s reaction it had to be blood.

Loki had come to his rooftop to look at the stars although he was hurt? Good job, whoever did that…

“When I listen to you it’s easy to understand that somebody might stab you. You provoke that feeling in people.”

Tony couldn’t quite see Loki’s expression, but he could hear him hissing again while Loki was bringing a hand up to his arm. “Oh, come on, I saw you get beaten up by the Hulk and you didn’t sulk about that.”

“I am not sulking.”

“No, you are looking at the stars… Fuck you, what is all this shit about? If you are on the run from some asshole that you screwed over… Don’t hide on top of my tower, I don’t want the trouble.”

“Nobody is coming looking for me.”

That caught Tony off guard. When you heard somebody snarl and spit all the time, it was hard to believe that they could actually talk softly and transport something else than disdain with their voice.

No, Tony hadn’t imagined it, Loki was actually sad.

Awkward, but only fair.

“Not that much of a surprise, you are…”

“Leave me alone, Stark.”

Loki lay back down and Tony was the tiniest bit confused. Especially since he could hear Loki exhale quietly. Yeah, Loki was in pain and that should make Tony feel better, but it didn’t. “You’re not going to bleed out here, right? I really don’t want the mess.”

“It’s just a scratch.”

“Huh… my hands are full of blood… someone really cut you deep… which I totally get. You have that effect on people.”

Now Loki uttered a soft laugh, it still sounded sad. “It seems that way…”

“So what happened? I’m not going to shut up and since you’re not going to get up to throw me off the roof, you’ll have to listen to this…”

“My lover left me.”

That wasn’t what Tony had expected. Quarrel, cheating, some kind of plot or whatever Loki was up in his spare time. Now was he supposed to believe that Loki was actually dating somebody? And that this person leaving him caused him to lie down on the ground and look at the stars. Being left by his lover made Loki… sad?

“You have a girlfriend?”

“No, he told me he was going to leave me and then he stabbed me.”

Now that was… cruel and there was probably some backstory to it that would make perfect sense. “I guess that’s why you shouldn’t date bad guys…”

“Obviously dating a good guy ends up in you getting beaten up and left for dead. Where’s the difference?”

Tony couldn’t think of something to say. Loki couldn’t seriously compare the both of them. They were nothing alike and Loki had no idea what he was talking about. He was surrounding himself with insane people, naturally it resulted in somebody trying to kill him.

“You know nothing about that… don’t even dare talking about it.”

“He is a lawyer, currently fighting a huge pharmaceutical group. Does that sound like a good guy to you? Couple of hours ago he told me that he didn’t want to see me anymore and to prove a point he stabbed me.”

“Am I actually supposed to believe that stupid story?”

“I don’t care if you believe it or not. That’s what happened. How many people do believe that the Captain tried to kill you?”

Swallowing softly Tony glanced at his hands, still not seeing the blood in the darkness. “It’s just a scratch? You’re not… seriously hurt?”

“I’m as fine as you can be when you get stabbed with a cursed blade that slows down the healing process…”

“Where the hell would a lawyer get a cursed blade from?”

“I gave it to him for protection.”

That… Tony felt a shudder running down his spine. A story that felt awfully familiar. You give them the means to protect themselves and they use it as weapons against you… No, that wasn’t what had happened to Loki. “Did you attack him when he wanted to leave you?”

“No, I asked him why and then he yelled at me. For not being there enough, for being too busy, for not feeling anything… then he stabbed me. So I’d feel something. Pathetically melodramatic. Normally I like staginess, but that was just… sentimental gibberish. Not going to miss that… ” Loki was mumbling, his words sounded harsh nonetheless.

Tony shifted uncomfortably, another moment when he should definitely bite his tongue. Too bad that was something Tony had never learned. “Well, for somebody who isn’t going to miss it, you sound pretty… beat-up.”

Loki didn’t respond and for Tony that was quite telling. Man, why was so much fucked up shit happening lately? Sure, Loki was crazy, but in this context that didn’t mean anything.

Having your own boyfriend stab you, so you’d finally feel something…?

Bullshit. Somebody who put the entire city out of business to look at the stars was definitely feeling something. Great, now Tony was feeling sad too.

And Loki was still bleeding.

“You know… blood stains are a bitch, so… how about you get up, come downstairs and we patch you up? Don’t worry, I have big windows, you can continue to mope there. What do you say?”

“That either you’re mad or I am about to be stabbed a second time.”

Tony huffed, but he could understand the sentiment. “Believe me, I have enough of backstabbing. For the next 500 years. So?”

It took a couple of seconds, but then eventually Loki got up to his feet and Tony couldn’t deny that he was surprised. Okay… well, then he should get busy patching Loki up. The crazed out Norse god who has been left and stabbed by his boyfriend.

Not a single normal day in Tony’s life.

Loki followed him in complete silence and as soon as they were in the penthouse he seemed indeed more interested in looking out the window than anything else. Alright with Tony, that gave him time to get the first aid kit. He could easily find it despite the darkness. “You might wanna sit down?”

Turning around Loki looked at him, but Tony still couldn’t see his face. Still keeping quiet Loki walked over to the couch and sat down. Completely surreal. “And… I may need a little bit of light.”

The second he had finished that sentence some of the lights in the room flickered back on. Very dim, a lot of shadows, but now Tony was able to make out Loki’s face. Nothing new there. Green eyes, a perfect nose and sharp cheekbones. But yes, Loki looked sad. There was no way to fault him for that.

“Okay, let’s take a look at… Oh, crap…”

Tony had expected that weird, really not fashionable armour and the ridiculous cape, but far from it. Loki was wearing actual jeans and a green, long sleeved sweat shirt that showed off his narrow waist even more than the stupid armour. It also showed that Loki’s ex-boyfriend was a fucking tart. The entire left side of the shirt was blood soaked and for a second Tony asked himself why Loki wasn’t showing any signs of pain or why he wasn’t passing out. Right, god…

“Uhm… you are not going to faint or anything?”

“As I’ve said, it’s just a scratch.”

Yeah, right, such a tough guy. “Alright, let’s check it out…” Reaching for the hem of Loki’s shirt Tony pulled it up slightly, revealing a stab wound that still seemed to be bleeding. Not excessively though. “Okay, screw this. You need to lie down.”

Loki raised an eyebrow at him and Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I got it. You are a god, you are not going to die from that, maybe it’s not even hurting that much. But that’s still a stab wound and it needs to be treated. You’ve mentioned the cursed blade, slowed down healing process, so lie down and do as I say.”

The expected protest or even violence didn’t come and Loki actually did lie down. Wow, Tony wasn’t even going to think about that. Taking a shaky breath Tony began to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding. Finally Loki uttered a little hiss which was somewhat relieving.

Normally you were supposed to talk to the person to calm them down, but Loki didn’t seem worried about the wound in the least. Anyways…

“So… where you do you even meet a guy? Do you go clubbing on Friday nights?”

Loki grunted. “Midgardian forms of nightlife are dull and proletarian…”

“Okay, so no clubbing. I just can’t imagine you having a normal conversation with a guy you don’t know… or someone you know. You’re sure you were actually dating that guy?”

“Stark, I’m getting tired of this conversation.”

“Sure, annoy the guy who’s patching you up. Maybe getting stabbed on a regular basis is not a big thing for you, but you know for the rest of us this is rather unusual…”

Loki’s green eyes stared past Tony and… wonderful, now he was feeling bad. Keeping his mouth shut Tony checked if the wound had stopped bleeding and then started patching it up. Was this the most absurd thing that has ever happened to him? Or was it in the top three? It wasn’t like Tony’s life hadn’t turned into a fucking morbid joke…

“You know…” Tony cleared his throat, his eyes fixed on his works so he wouldn’t have to look at Loki. “… this isn’t okay. Stabbing you. I mean it wasn’t some fight to the death situation because you’ve tried to take over the world. At least I hope so… A person you trust shouldn’t… they shouldn’t do something like this. Ever. Your ex is an asshole. And an idiot… stabbing you so you’d feel something. Has that guy never heard you talk about Thor or your father? You have a lot of feelings…”

Perhaps he had gone a little bit too far now, but when Tony looked up and met green eyes, they seemed surprised and benevolent. It made Tony feel uneasy and he quickly added something. “Seems like he didn’t know very much about you…”

“What an intriguing parallel…” Loki mumbled and Tony’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean?”

“If you can’t see it, you will have to figure it out yourself…” A little chuckle was audible in his voice and Tony still didn’t get it. That wasn’t so bad though, because Loki wasn’t sulking anymore.

“I’m done by the way….”

Slowly Loki sat up, looking at the bandages. “Thank you…” A quiet whisper and Tony almost didn’t catch it, too bewildered that suddenly all the lights went back on. He was already curious how the newspapers were going to explain the blackout tomorrow.

“Thanks for turning the lights back on.”

“Boss, do you need assistance?”

Loki frowned, seemingly confused and looked around which caused Tony to laugh. It was always amusing to see somebody’s first reaction to Friday. “Strangely enough, no, I don’t think so.”

Still a bit bewildered Loki cleared his throat. “I guess I will leave now.”

A rush of madness went through Tony, that was the only explanation. “You know you could stay for a bit and I’ll show you how guys on Earth deal with a nasty break-up. We’re definitely not looking at the stars.”

Tonight was all about surprising each other. Loki blinked, obviously not quite understanding where Tony might be going with this. To be honest, Tony didn’t know either. “What would that involve?”

“Mostly liquor. Pizza. More liquor. Netflix. Porn eventually. Then you think of all the things your ex always wanted you to stop doing and you do them. Like eating fast food, putting your feet on the table… you know the drill.”

For a short moment Loki just sat there, looking at him with a completely blank expression. Yeah, the suggestion sounded rather ridiculous when Tony really thought about it.

“I don’t see why not.”

 


End file.
